Morris Major IIRC too. Jellymould floorpan with a new body and bigger engine. My Riley didn’t have the extra hole in the front, although there was at least one non-original one underneath. Didn’t have the numbers or tape either…

Great little car actually, I wish I’d still got it.

They weren’t much better when new-ish. The only one I ever drove was a Marina, same difference, company car. It was due for its’ first MOT and then to be sold. I took it through a car wash and came out soaked.

My list’s a bit longer than most…

1960 Riley 1.5
1962 Ford Anglia
1962 Vauxhall Cresta 2.6
195? Austin A35 van (2 weeks)
1960 Triumph Herald Coupe + a saloon for spares
1964 Jaguar 3.4 Mk2 (35 years ago and I still miss it)
1968 Vauxhall Cresta 3.3
1970 Vauxhall Victor 1600
1971 Vauxhall Victor 2000
1968 Austin 1800
1973 Ford Cortina XL 2.0 (’til it got nicked)
1974 Hillman Avenger 1600 (hated it)
1974 Ford Consul 2.0
1972 Ford Cortina GT 2.0 (95 quid and 68,000 miles in 3 years)
1979 Ford Cortina Estate 2.0
1979 Ford Cortina Ghia 2.0
1989 Vauxhall Astra 1.3 (company car – went like stink)
Some sort of Talbot for a few weeks
1990 Ford Sierra 1.6 (company car – barely moved)
1986 Ginetta G26 2.0 still got it
1992 Vauxhall Astra 1.7 TD loved it
1997 Vauxhall Astra LS 1.7 TDS hate it
2002 Vauxhall Astra SXI 2.0 DTI currently arguing with me and winning.

I always thought those Capris looked great, but they were crying out for a 5 litre V8 under the bonnet.

My first car was a 1960 Riley 1.5 which cost a whole 15 quid in 1971. It was before I passed my test but I conned various mugs and my girlfriend into sitting with me. I scrapped it for what I now realise was a simple welding job.

That was followed by a licence and a 1962 Ford Anglia which was fine until a roundabout jumped out in front of me on the Southend road.

The earlier Sabres were certainly a nightmare, but by the time they got to the Tempest engines they were very reliable and powerful.

Interesting page here on Christer’s site: http://www.hawkertempest.se/NapierSabre1.htm

As for “lefties” and “righties” it is usualy just the very last bit of the gearbox that turns the other way UNLESS you have a P-38, then the whole thing turns in a different direction!. Supposedly you can change one to another but it involves stripping it down into tiny pieces in an engine shop.

Rgds Cking

Or a Whirlwind. The entire Peregrine engine was handed. Until recently I understood that was in all cases but according to an article in FlyPast or Aeroplane (I think) in the last couple of years, it was abandoned before the production run was completed.

A car petrol engine can run (sort of) backwards, if it’s overheated enough, when it’s switched off. It will have no power and run like a pig, but that’s a matter of timing.

Discounting reverse machining, which I’d never heard of – it must be almost at a molecular level – if it was just a case of setting the backlash up in the opposite direction and revising the valve and ignition timing, surely RR wouldn’t have abandoned it so quickly.

Thanks for the quill shaft info, although I already knew what they did. What I didn’t know what was different about them from just any old shaft. Pete’s explained that, (thanks Pete) so now I understand.

I think it’s in Jeffrey Quill’s book. IIRC the pilot was a Wing Co and he dismissed an erk who was trying to tell him the difference.

The way Rolls-Royce build engines – lots!

They used something called quill shafts to drive various internal and external gears which I believe had something to do with preload and backlash but I’ve never really understood them.

I know they said that the Peregrine was too much trouble being built for two different rotations and apart from a few limited production engines never did it again. If it was simple, having already made components, presumably it shouldn’t have been a problem.